"Immigrant Song"

 The first track off Led Zeppelin's third album "Immigrant Song", starts of the album with a bang! "Led Zeppelin III" is popularly regarded as "Led Zeppelin goes acoustic" but that really is not the case, and this is one example off the album that disproves this perception. The band drew inspiration for this song from their trip to Reykjavik, Iceland in middle of 1970. Robert Plant described how the trip inspired the song in a radio interview that year:

"We went to Iceland, and it made you think of Vikings and big ships... and John Bonham's stomach... and bang, there it was - Immigrant Song!" Plant later added in a separate interview, "We weren't being pompous ... We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. "Immigrant Song" was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different."

Jimmy Page performing in Iceland in 1970

The song made it's debut just six days after the band's stop in Iceland at the Bath Festival in England, which is an incredible feat. The song starts with a faint hiss, which is actually feedback from the echo unit used to add that particular effect on the track, then launches into the staccato riff played by both Page and Jones and the wailing of Robert Plant. Jimmy Page played overdubbed this riff several times with his Number One Gibson Les Paul in order to achieve that fat, vast tone heard on the song.

The song was released on the album as well as a single in the U.S. against the wishes of the band with "Hey Hey, What Can I Do" as the B-Side. Interestingly, on the initial prints of the 45 the Aleister Crowley quote "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," appears in dead wax near the run-out groove. Crowley was an iconic practitioner of Magick and deeply involved in the occult; Jimmy Page was one of his greatest admirers. The band played the song to open their live shows from 1970-1972. By 1973 it was used as an encore and subsequently dropped from the set list.

Led Zeppelin at the Bath Festival

|---||---------------------------||-------------------------||------|
|---||o-------------------------o||-------------------------||------|
|---||---------------------------||-------------------2-----||------|
|---||--------4-----------4------||-------4-----------2-0-0-||-2----|
|---||o-------------------------o||---------------0-0-0-0-0-||-2----|
|-x-||--2-2-2---2-0-2-2-2---2-0--||-2-2-2---2-0-2-------0-0-||-0----|

|--------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|--------0--2--|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|--------1--2--|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|-(2)----2--2--|-------4-----------4-------|-------4-----------4-------|
|-(2)----2--0--|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|-(0)----0-----|-2-2-2---2-0-2-2-0---2-2-0-|-2-2-2---2-0-2-2-0---2-2-0-|

|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------2----2------|
|---------------------------|---------------4b6--4b6p=3-|
|-------4-----------4-------|-------4-------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|-2-2-2---2-0-2-2-2---2-2-0-|-2-2-2---2-2---------------| 

|---------------------| 

|---------------------|

|---------------------| 

|-----4---------4-----|

|---------------------|

|-2-2---2-0-2-2---2-0-|

|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------5----5\-----|
|---------------------------|---------------7b9--7b9\---|
|---------------------------|-------4-------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------0-----------|
|---------------------------|-2-2-2---2S4-4-------------|

|-------------------------|----------|---------------|
|-------------------------|----------|--------0--2---|
|-------------------2-----|----------|--------1--2---|
|-------4-----------2-----|-2--------|-(2)----2--2---|
|---------------0-0-0-0-0-|-2--------|-(2)----2--0---|
|-2-2-2---2-0-2-------0-0-|-0--------|-(0)----0------|

|-------------------------|-------------------------||
|-------------------------|-------------------------||
|-------------------------|-------------------------||
|-------4-----------4-----|-------4-----------4-----||
|-------x---0-------x-----|-------x-----------x---0-||
|-2-2-2---2---2-2-2---2-0-|-2-2-2---2-0-2-2-2---2---||

 Chorus
|-------------------------------|
|-------------------------------|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-(2)-2-2-2-2-2-2-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-(2)-2-2-2-2-4-2-|
|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-(0)-3-4-4-0-0-0-|
|-------------------------------|

|-------------------------------|
|-------------------------------|
|-4-4-4-4-4-4-(4)-4-4-4-4-4-4-5-|
|-4-4-4-4-4-4-(4)-4-4-4-4-4-4-5-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-(2)-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-|
|-------------------------------|
                                                        To Coda
|--------------------------------|------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|-----0------------------------|
|-5-5-5-5-5-5-(5)-5-5-5-5-5-5--0-|-(0)-----5-7b8-7-5---5--------|
|-5-5-5-5-5-5-(5)-5-5-5-5-5-5----|-----5-7-----------7----------|
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-(3)-3-3-3-3-3-3-/7-|-(7)--------------------------|
|--------------------------------|---------------------------x--|

                                           D.S. al Coda
||---------------------------||-------------------------|
||o-------------------------o||-------------------------|
||---------------------------||---------------2-2-2-----|
||--------4-----------4------||-------4-------2-2-2-----|
||o-------------------------o||---------------0-0-0-0-0-|
||--2-2-2---2-0-2-2-2---2-0--||-2-2-2---2-0-2-------0-0-|

||----------------------------||
||o--------------------------o||
||----------------------------||
||--------4-----------4-------||
||o--------------------------o||
||--2-2-2---2-0-2-2-2---2-0---||

   Verse 3
||----------------------------||-|
||o-----------------------3--o||-|
||------------------------3---||-|
||--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-0---||-|
||o-4-4-x-x-4-x-x-4-x-x-x----o||-|
||--2-2-x-x-2-x-x-2-x-x-x-3---||-|

||--------------------------||-----------------------------|
||o---------------------3--o||-----------------------------|
||----------------------3---||-----------------------------|
||----------------x-x---0---||-4-4-x-x-4-4-4-4-(4)-4-4-4---|
||o-4-----4-----4-x-x-0----o||-4-4-x-x-4-4-4-4-(4)-4-4-4---|
||--2-2-2-2-2-2-2-x-x-0-3---||-2-2-x-x-2-2-2-0-(0)-0-2-0---|

 Guitar Solo
|----------|----------------------|
|----------|----------------------|
|----------|----------------------|
|-4--------|-(4)--2--(2)--(2)-2-4-|
|-4--------|-(4)------------------|
|-2--------|-(2)------------------|

|--------------------|------------------------------|
|--------------------|------------------------------|
|-0h3p0-0------------|------------2-4-2-4p2---2---2-|
|---------4-4-(4)----|-(4)--(4)-4-----------4---4---|
|--------------------|------------------------------|
|--------------------|------------------------------|

|-----5-----------------5--|-----------------------------------------|
|--------------------------|------------------------------------5----|
|-4b6---4b6===(4)--(4)r----|-4b6r(4)p2---2h4p2---2---2-4b6==(4)---4r-|
|--------------------------|-----------4-------4---4-----------------|
|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------|
|-----------5-------------------------|
|-4b6===(4)---4-4r(4)p2---4p2---2-----|
|-----------------------4-----4---4p==|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|

|---------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|-2---0h2p0---0-------------------------|----------------------------|
|---4-------4---4p2p0---0h2p0-(0)---0---|----------------------------|
|---------------------4-----------0---0-|-(0)-0-3-2-2-(2)--(2)s(11)\-|

|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|----2-(2)-5-6s7-(7)S5-2-5p2h5p2p|

|----------------------|--------------------------------|
|----------------------|--------------------------------|
|----------------------|-----------1-1-1-1-2-2-2-4-4-4--|
|----------------------|---4-4-4-4----------------------|
|----------------------|--------------------------------|
|-0-0-2-2--(2)s=(12)\--|--------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------|
|-4-----------------------------------|
|-4p2p1h4p2p1h4p2p1h4p2p1h4p2p1-4-2-1-|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|

|----------------------------------|--------------------|
|----------------------------------|--------------------|
|---1-2-4-4b6r=(4)-2-4-(4)p2h4p2p1-|---1-2-4-2-4-2-1----|
|-4--------------------------------|-4------------------|
|-0--------------------------------|--------------------|
|----------------------------------|--------------------|

|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|-1-2-4-4-/6-6-6-6-8-(8)-8-9-|-9-9-(9)p7p6h9p7p6h9p7p6h9p7p6h9p7p6h9p7p6h|
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------|
|-------------------------------|
|-9p7p6---6-7-9b11==(9)r9-7-9p7-|
|-------9-----------------------|
|-------------------------------|
|-------------------------------|

|-----------------------|----------------------------|
|-----0-(0)--(0)--------|-7---7-9-10-9h10p8---7-9-10-|
|-9p7p6-(6)--(6)--6-7-9-|---9---------------9--------|
|-----------------------|----------------------------|
|-----------------------|----------------------------|
|-----------------------|----------------------------|

|---------------------------|
|-10s12--(12)b14--(12)--x---|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|

|---14-----14-14-14-14--14-----(14)--14-14----14-14----14-|
|---14-----14-14-14-14--14-----(14)--14-14----14-14----14-|
|---16b18==16-16-16-16r-16b18==(16)r----16b18----16b18----|
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------|

|-14----14-14-----(14)--14-14-----14-14--14-----14-14--14-----14-14-14--|
|-14----14-14-----(14)--14-14-----14-14--14-----14-14--14-----14-14-14--|
|-16b18----16b18==(16)r----16b18=====16r-16b18==16-16r-16b18==16-16-16r-|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|

|----------14--14-----14--14-----(14)-14--14-----14--14-14------|
|----------14--14-----14--14-----(14)-14--14-----14--14-14------|
|---16b18==16r-16b18==16r-16b18==(16)-16r-16b18==16r-16-16pb18==|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|

|-(14)--14-----14--14------------------------14--14-----14--14-----14--|
|-(14)--14-----14--14------------------------14--14-----14--14-----14--|
|-(16)r-16b18==16r-16b18==16-16r-16b18==(16)-16r-16b18==16r-16b18==16r-|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|

|-14-17b19==(17)--(17)r-17-16-14---------14----|
|-14-----------------------------17b17.5----17-|
|----------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------------------|
|-14----------------------14----------------------|
|----17-16p14----14-16-17----17-16-14----16p14----|
|-------------16----------------------16-------16-|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------14----------------------------------|
|-14----14-17----17-16p14h16p14----16p14----16p===|
|----16-------------------------16-------16-------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|

|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|-14----14b14.5-------------------------16p14----14----|
|----16---------16-14-16p14----14-15-16-------16----16-|
|---------------------------16-------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|

|---------------------------------------------------|
|----------16-16-17------16-17s16----16h17p16----16-|
|-14-18-18------------18----------18----------18----|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|

|-19-19-16h19p16----16----------------------|
|----------------17----17-16----16----------|
|----------------------------18----18-16s14-|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|

|----------------------------------------------------|
|-------------14-------------------------------------|
|----14-16-17----17p16p14----16p14----16p14----14----|
|-16----------------------16-------16-------16----16-|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|

|------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|-14-14b14.5----14b14.5-14b14.5---14b14.5==14r-------14b14.5-|
|------------16--------------------------------16-16---------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|
|---14b16==(14)-(14)----14b16==14r-14-(14)----14pb16====|
|--------------------16--------------------16-----------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|

|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-(14)-14r-14-(14)-14-14-14-14-------------------|
|------------------------------16-------14-16p14-|
|---------------------------------14s16----------|
|------------------------------------------------|

|----------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|------------------13b15=====|=(13)--(13)r--11b13-11-9-11p9-11p9p7-|
|----14--(14)s[12]-----------|-------------------------------------|
|-16-------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------|
|-----------0-------------------------|
|-9-6-7-5-6---/4-4-2-2------------0-4p|
|----------------------4-4-2p---------|
|-----------------------------4p0-----|
|-------------------------------------|

|---------------------------|---------------------4-7-4---|
|---------------------------|---------4h5p4---4-5-0-----5-|
|-1---1-------------------1-|-4s6-(6)-------6-------------|
|---2---2p1-2--(2)--(2)-2---|-----------------------------|
|---------------------------|-----------------------------|
|---------------------------|-----------------------------|

|-4---------------------------------|----------------|
|---5p4---4-------------------------|----------------|
|-------6---6s4-2h4p2---4p2---------|----------------|
|---------------------4-----4-4p2h4-|-1-2-4-(4)------|
|-----------------------------------|----------------|
|-----------------------------------|----------------|

|--------------------|------------------|
|--------------------|------------------|
|-----------2-(2)----|---------5-(5)----|
|-1-2-4-(4)-2-(2)----|-1-2-3s5-5-(5)----|
|-----------0-(0)----|---------3-(3)----|
|--------------------|------------------|
                                                Outro
|------------------|-------------------------||--------------------------|
|------------------|-------------------------||o-------------------------|
|---------7-(7)----|-----------/11-(11)------||--------------------------|
|-1-2-3s5-7-(7)----|-1-2-4-(4)---------------||--------4-----------4-----|
|---------5-(5)----|------------/9--(9)---9\-||o-------------------------|
|------------------|-------------0--(0)------||--2-2-2---2-0-2-2-2---2-0-|

|--------------------||-||---------------------||--------------------*|
|----------------3--o||-||o----------------3--o||--------------------*|
|----------------3---||-||-----------------3---||--------------------*|
|-------4--------0---||-||--------4--------0---||-------4------------*|
|-------------------o||-||o-------------------o||--------------------*|
|-2-2-2---2-0-2--3---||-||--2-2-2---2-0-2--3---||-2-2-2---2-0-2------*|

For your viewing pleasure I've decided to add the first live performance of 

"Immigrant Song" from the Bath Festival below. Be forewarned, the audio quality

leaves much to be desired.